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Rog

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A reliable source tells me that we more than likely will have between 16 and 20 scholarships this signing period.
 

That doesn't surprise me. I'm sure there are some players that haven't received the playing time that they may have expected. A quarterback, a couple runningbacks, and a defensive back come to mind. I have no idea if they have plans to leave the University of Minnesota. It's easy for us to think that a it's not a wise decision to leave a Big 10 school, especially when you are on a full ride scholarship. When you're a competitive teenager, getting some playing time may seem more important than your degree. Hopefully, they've got intelligent parents who can guide them.
 

I would not be surprised that some of those schollies come from athletes graduating and leaving the program.
 

IDFM said:
I would not be surprised that some of those schollies come from athletes graduating and leaving the program.
Click to expand...

Finally a statement that we know will be correct!
 




This would be about twice what we have committed plus PWO we could should see a lot of activity.

How many Jucos do you think we will bring in if we have another 9 scollies available?

I can see us bringing in a LB or DB for depth and Special Teams.
 

Rog said:
A reliable source tells me that we more than likely will have between 16 and 20 scholarships this signing period.
Click to expand...

Even with all of the walk-ons that deserve scholarships? I'd like to think that Barker, Engel, Hill, Christenson, Mottla, and Henry are all in line for one after how much they have contributed this year.
 

Rog is very reliable, and close to the program. I'd buy this as very accurate.
 




Killjoy said:
Finally a statement that we know will be correct!
Click to expand...

I'm assuming what he means is that there will likely be attrition from 4th-year juniors who will graduate in the spring and decide to just move on with their lives given that they aren't playing right now anyway. Without naming names, there are 5 prime candidates to do just that, given that they are on track to graduate this spring.
 

John Galt said:
Even with all of the walk-ons that deserve scholarships? I'd like to think that Barker, Engel, Hill, Christenson, Mottla, and Henry are all in line for one after how much they have contributed this year.
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Bak and Eldrid as well.
 

Are you sure Mottla is not on scholarship now? Do they give scholarships to players for the second semester only? Seems to me that there should normally be less players on scholarship in the second semester, if the number of players leaving (transfers and fifth year seniors who have graduated) is greater than the number of winter adds (JCs and HS that can start in Jan.)
 



THE Chitown Gopher said:
This would be about twice what we have committed plus PWO we could should see a lot of activity.

How many Jucos do you think we will bring in if we have another 9 scollies available?

I can see us bringing in a LB or DB for depth and Special Teams.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't count your scholarships before they hatch. Besides probably at least three will be needed for scholarships for Brian Bobek, A.J. Barker, and at least one more walk on such as Jon Christenson or Caleb Bak.
 

Seems like there are always a few that transfer to other schools, either playing time, closer to home...not a surprise really.
 

I have no inside information, but this happens every single year to every single program. We will have a few more scholarships than you think every year. If we were betting on an over/under on the number of scholarships, I'd put it at 18 and I'd bet the over.
 

As far as walk-ons go, it's not as simple as handing them out to the guys who deserve them.

Usually, we will give a scholarship to a walk-ons before the signing period when they are starters and not seniors.
Bak and Christenson could make some sense. I doubt that Eldrid gets considered because a lot of punters/kickers aren't on scholarship. I doubt that Bak and Christenson get awarded a scholarship this season, if they did, it would likely go to Bak (in my opinion) only because he is older. But I really doubt we award either of them a scholarship.

Now with guys like Barker and Mottla, it gets sort of complicated.

Every year, around August/July/September, we will lose a couple more athletes and often HS kids can't qualify. We lost Ferguson and Gjere this year, and unfortunately, that's part of football. However, it's too late to sign another guy. Those open scholarships are awarded to the walk-ons. This is a way to maximize your scholarships. If you award these guys scholarships in lieu of signing another HS kid, if someone leaves the program in August, that scholly is sitting empty (or at least going to someone who you don't think deserves it as much).

My guess is that we won't see any of the walk-ons awarded scholarships before the signing period but that a few of them won't be paying for school next year when it's all said and done.
 

Some thoughts, though I suspect Bob is probably correct.

They have 85 scholarships to give. If they want to create a strong walk-on program they need to award scholarships to those that made an impact. A lot of people will be taking notice that local walk-on wide recievers and ol are outplaying scholarship players.

-Barker will end the year the number one wr. Deserves a scholarship as soon as one can be found.
-Hill and Mottla are already on scholarship, aren't they?
-Engel, Bak, Christenson probably deserve one as well although they could be in line for the attrition schollys listed above.
- I suspect Eldrid and Kill might have had an agreement. Presumably, he is paying a lot of money as an international student and he has delivered on his end. If he doesn't get one, I could see him leaving for another school like Hawthorne did (though probably smaller). Anyways, inviting Orseske to move on would free up the scholarship.

I really liked Dan Monson's belief that if a walk-on cracked the rotation he should be on scholarship. I also think it is more damaging to not reward walk-ons that it would be to gently tell non-performing upper-classmen that it was time to move on.
 

I don't know about Mottla, but I know Hill has been on scholarship for at least some of his time at the U. I have no idea whether he is at present.
 

Bob Loblaw

Thanks for the assessment and analysis. It lays out some of the thought process and timing issues in awarding walk on scholarships.

The one player that I have definite difference of opinion as to whether he will be awarded a scholarship is Barker. It seems to me that he is almost guaranteed to receive a scholarship. He has been the number one receiver this season and if anybody deserves a scholarship it would be him.

I recall Kill talking about the importance of the walk on program at Northern Illinois and that many of the starters there were walk-ons. One of the the reason for the successful walk-on program there was that walk on recruits knew that they would be treated equally with scholarship recruits. Part of that includes awarding scholarships to players who earn starting positions. Coach Kill stated recently if you start you deserve a scholarship. Therefore I believe coach Kill is going to have some tough choices, given the number of walk-ons who are starting this year. Some of these players are starting because of injuries but never the less they are starting. It will be interesting to see how he deals with this. Not awarding scholarships to deserving starters could be costly in the future.
 

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